Bogor. President Prabowo Subianto welcomed his predecessor, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, as a special guest during the 17th anniversary celebration of his Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) on Saturday evening. He thanked Jokowi for his support during last year’s elections, saying it played a significant role in his victory.

“Let me say here: our success is due to the support from the seventh president, Jokowi,” Prabowo told the audience at the Sentul International Convention Center in Bogor, just south of Jakarta. His statement was met with applause, although he jokingly urged the crowd to applaud more enthusiastically. He then punched the air and shouted: “Long live Jokowi!”

Prabowo invited Jokowi onstage to address Gerindra members. Jokowi began his speech by admitting he had not initially planned to speak at the party’s gathering. “However, the request came from the commander in chief -- the president of the Republic of Indonesia,” Jokowi said.

He then praised Prabowo by citing recent polling data suggesting an approval rating of more than 80 percent, just a few months into his presidency. “I can say with confidence that Mr. Prabowo is currently the president with the strongest support from both the House of Representatives and the public. You may check the approval ratings of all presidents in the world today -- no one can match Prabowo Subianto,” Jokowi said.

Earlier this week, Prabowo said that there had been attempts to create divisions between himself and Jokowi, but he remained unfazed and continued to hold his predecessor in high esteem.

Jokowi has grown closer to Prabowo since his relationship with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) -- which propelled him to the presidency -- began to sour in 2023. Notably, Jokowi allowed his son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, to become Prabowo’s running mate in October 2023, positioning them against PDI-P’s nominee Ganjar Pranowo.

The Prabowo-Gibran ticket eventually won the presidential election in February and was sworn into office on October 20. In December 2024, Jokowi, his son-in-law Bobby Nasution, and Gibran were officially dismissed from PDI-P, amid accusations that Jokowi’s support for Prabowo constituted a betrayal of the party that had twice backed Jokowi’s own presidential bids.

Gibran, who rose to prominence as the mayor of Solo with PDI-P’s endorsement, drew further criticism from the party by aligning with Prabowo. Bobby Nasution, also elected mayor of Medan with PDI-P backing, has since joined Gerindra and recently won the North Sumatra gubernatorial election under the party’s banner.